Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, the company’s CEO, told reporters on Tuesday that Qatar Petroleum intends to raise production from 77 million tonnes of natural gas to 100 million tonnes a year by 2024.

The announcement comes after the company said in April it was boosting output of its North Field, which it shares with Iran off the Gulf state’s northern coast.

“The new additional volumes will be secured by doubling the size of the new gas project in the southern sector of the North Field, which Qatar Petroleum had announced last April,” a statement by the company said.

The April announcement meant an end to the self-imposed ban on development of the field that it declared in 2005 to give Doha time to study the impact on the reservoir from a rapid rise in output.

Qatar is already the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG). It has several fields within its territorial waters.

The LNG market is undergoing huge changes, however, as the biggest ever flood of new supply hits the market, with volumes coming mainly from the US and Australia.

Gas has helped transform Qatar into one of the richest countries in the world, propelling its rise into a major regional player and helping fund huge infrastructure projects such as the 2022 football World Cup, which will be hosted by Qatar.